The Earth Experiment
by Queen Nan
Summary: A routine mission to rescue a rogue scientist leads the crew of the GCS Nina to the location of a new planet when the Doctor's reasons for defecting become clear. The crew, with Ensign Gail Peck, and the scientist Doctor Holly Stewart, are embroiled in a race against time to prevent a planet from being destroyed for parts, in a move the corporations have made before.
1. Prologue

**The Earth Experiment **

**Part One**

**Planet 23378**

**Status: Early Hominid Life**

* * *

**Prologue**

She shifted the gun in her hands slightly as she came up behind her squad-mate in a crouch and hissed out, "But why a lab monkey?"

The man in front of her turned to whisper back, "Damn it Peck..."

She shrugged a single shoulder and hunkered down to wait for the rest of their squad to catch up to them, "I'm serious Epstein... what is so special about this woman that the Admiralty council is willing to risk an entire squad of marines?"

In front of her Dov huffed, "I don't know Peck, the rest of us didn't grow up asking Admirals why they were giving orders, we just learned to follow them. And you know more about the mission than me."

Under her breath she muttered, "Kiss ass..."

Behind her McNally and Collins came up to crouch on her six, and McNally's eternally cheerful voice sounded quietly, "Ok so we're waiting on Price, Diaz, and Nash?"

Gail nodded with a scowl, "I don't like this at all. They were ahead of us."

McNally frowned in the dim light of the subterranean tunnel they were currently lurking in, "Gail is right, they should be here by now."

Dov shifted his body before speaking up importantly, "I'm going to call them on comms."

Before he could touch his chest and activate his comm. Gail snarled, "Orders were radio silence."

Dov turned to level a glare at her, "They could be dead Peck, I'm calling them."

Gail reached out and caught his wrist in a vice grip as she hissed, "And if the corporation realizes we're here they will execute the doctor we were sent to rescue."

Dov shot a glance towards McNally and then Collins before trying to yank his hand from Gail's grip, "My friend, my best friend, and my girl might be in trouble Gail."

Gail resisted the urge to shut her eyes as she realized what she was going to have to do, "Stand down marine..." As Dov tensed under her grip she added forcefully, "That is an order."

He stiffened completely before snapping out, "You don't outrank me Gail."

Before McNally or Collins could weigh in Gail's Netband vibrated against her wrist. She pulled up the information, sending it directly to her helmet display and inhaled sharply.

"Her BP just went through the roof, they might be working her over. We need to move."

Her brief moment of distraction was all Dov needed to wrench his arm free and tap his comm., "Diaz?"

Gail was up and moving before her helmet could alert her to the fact that comm. signal had been detected just as she'd feared. The locator ping on the doctor had her in a room that shared a wall with the tunnel just ahead, but with no access nearby and Dov's moment of idiocy Gail was going to have to work fast. She yanked a charged explosive from her belt and slapped it to the wall before muting her helmet and hoping like hell that her kinetic armor held against the blast because she didn't have time to move as she readied her gun. The charge blew and tore a man sized hole in the tunnel wall, just enough for Gail to storm through. Her gun wasn't loaded with bullets but with an electric charge that would drop an elephant but wouldn't do any permanent damage... unless the elephant or man had an underlying heart condition.

She fired off a shot, nailing the man leveling a gun at the doctor right between the shoulders and dropping him before she turned her weapon to the second man in the room, who was wielding what looked like a gnarly torture tool. On principle she shot him in the face before clearing the room quickly and bee-lining it for the doctor who looked like she'd seen better days.

She punched the release button on the restraint chair the doctor was strapped too and moved to support her as the doctor slumped forward, "Hey hey, I've got you."

The doctor struggled to her feet with Gail's help and Gail had to admire her strength because she looked wrecked. The doctor staggered forward towards a red box, pointing towards it when her legs threatened to fold under her and Gail was forced to hold her up.

Gail stared at the woman, "Really? You risk face planting for a lunchbox?"

The doctor shook her head weakly, "Not a lunchbox..." She swayed in Gail's arms, "It has... samples..." Her head lolled and Gail bit back a curse as she swung the Doctor's limp body around and grabbed the lunchbox off the table. She heard the hiss of the door before it slid open, giving her just enough time to shove the Doctor away from her, aiming roughly for the restraint chair before scrambling to lift her gun as the door slid open and four armed mercs streamed in.

A bullet pelted her armor, the force absorbed by her kinetic shields, but all the same, they were shooting live ammo at her. She rushed them before another shot could be fired off, bashing the butt of her charge rifle into the uncovered face of the nearest merc, grinning sadistically as cartilage and bone crunched in a bloody mess. She didn't have the room to shoot any of the mercs so she charged her gauntlets and hammer fisted another of the mercs, sending a brutal pulse of energy into his chest, launching him off his feet and into the merc behind him. The last of mercs lunged forward, startling her just enough to catch her in the neck where her armor was at its weakest. He capitalized on his momentum and spun her around, wrapping his arm around her neck and applying pressure.

She reared back and then to the side, slamming him into the metal table where the torture instruments were. She tried to stomp on his foot but his grip was relentless. He used his free hand to rip her helmet off before trying to bring his armored fist down on her skull. She threw her hands up to stop him, losing focus on preventing her slow strangulation.

Just as her vision began to blacken around the edges and panic welled in the pit of her stomach, the man trying in earnest to kill her let out a blood curdling scream before his body dropped behind her with a heavy thump. Gail whirled around and stared at the woman breathing heavily in front of her. The Doctor stood, bloody neural probe in hand, staring at her.

Before Gail could speak the Doctor blurted out, "Wow you're gorgeous."

Gail's ears went red before she scowled and bent to pick up her helmet from the floor as she barked, "Can you walk or am I going to have to carry you again Lunchbox?"

The Doctor frowned at her, "I think I can walk... and I told you it isn't a lunchbox."

Gail jammed her helmet back into place before replying, "I haven't seen any samples Lunchbox, just something that looks like there might be a sandwich in it."

The Doctor let out a startled laugh before she grumbled out, "Don't talk about food, I'm starving."

Gail moved to the Doctor's side, despite what she'd said and offered her a shoulder to lean on, "How long have they had you?"

The Doctor cocked her head as she considered the question, "A week maybe? I'm not sure, the days sort of bleed in on each other when they start repeating torture methods."

Gail huffed as she paused to let the Doctor lean against the jagged edge of the blown up wall, "They sound uncreative."

The Doctor shrugged and then winced as the movement jarred one of her many wounds, "Well I'm grateful for that at least, I didn't need a creative torturer."

Gail lifted her gun and poked her head out just as Diaz rushed forward in the tunnel, "Gail!"

She scowled at him even though he couldn't see her face, before taking in the mercs that were downed in the tunnels. That at least explain why her squad hadn't helped her. She shook her head curtly at Diaz before leaning back and offering an arm to the Doctor who took it and let herself be led out of the room and into the dim tunnel.

Dov spoke up softly, "Are you ok Gail?"

Gail pulled the Doctor closer to her before she snarled out, "No thanks to you Epstein."

Traci, who as a junior Lieutenant was technically in charge of the mission groundside, spoke up, "Gail's right Dov, no comms. means no comms."

Before Dov could reply Gail spoke, "Nash..." She nodded towards the Doctor who was drooping against her, clearly already running out of her second wind, "Civilian present. Dress him down when our objective isn't about to faint."

McNally moved to the other side of the Doctor to take some of her weight, "Hi..."

The Doctor's head lolled as she slurred out, "Hi..." Her head swiveled back to Gail, "Your helmet isn't pretty..."

Gail snorted, "McNally, this is Lunchbox... Lunchbox, McNally."

The Doctor sniffed as she tried to rouse herself, "Not Lunchbox... 'm Holly..." She bobbed her head as if agreeing with herself, "Holly Stewart."

The marines in the tunnel froze together as the name registered.

Quietly Chris spoke, "Stewart? Like..."

Lunchbox, or rather Holly breathed out, "Named for my granddad... Holland Stewart..." She sagged in Gail and McNally's grip a little more, "He figured out the Worm Drive you know?" She tried to bring a hand up to wave, "He's like super important... or he was." She turned to look at Gail as she whispered sadly, "He's dead now." She continued muttering to herself, "An he never got to go home... he was always saying..."

As Gail held Holly up she spoke, "I guess that answers my earlier question..." She wasn't just a lab monkey, she was a lab monkey with a universe changing legacy behind her.

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	2. Chapter 1

**A.N: Exposition galore... yay. **

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**Chapter One**

**-Fleet Leviathan Class Ship: Nina-**

Gail fought the urge to squirm as her mother's judgmental stare bit into her from the giant vid screen that the Galaxy class ship had installed in the Captain's bridge office.

Her mother's voice ground out, "Do you want to tell me how the the mission went so sideways so quickly?!" Gail opened her mouth to respond but got nothing out as her mother railed on, "An explosive charge Ensign!?"

Quietly Gail spoke, "Lieutenant Nash was..."

Her mother clearly knew exactly what she was going to say as she roared over her, "Lieutenant Nash is not my daughter!"

Gail shot a glance towards her brother and then the Captain, hoping desperately that one of them would leap to her defense but both men remained silent.

Summoning every bit of steel she possessed she injected it into her spine and snapped out crisply, "With all due respect M'am, the mission was a success and Doctor Stewart is safely in the med-bay."

Her mother's eyes narrowed impressively on the giant screen, "You used an explosive charge and went in alone to retrieve the doctor!"

Gail lifted her chin, "And I was successful M'am. No one was hurt. I had reason to believe Doctor Stewart was in imminent danger and I made a call."

Her mother was silent for a long moment before a small smirk appeared on her lips, "Well it seems Doctor Stewart at least agrees with your assessment. She's contacted the Admiralty council personally to thank them for sending their, quote 'Best squad' end quote, to retrieve her and she mentioned you by name." The Admiral turned to look at Captain Best, "Frankie, I expect the official report for the mission on my desk in two solar days."

Captain Best stepped forward, "Yes M'am."

Admiral Elaine Peck cocked her head, "Dismissed..." She cut her hand across her throat and the transmission ended abruptly, 'Transmission Lost' blinking aggressively on the screen.

Gail lowered her gaze to the floor, waiting for the dressing down she was about to get from her Captain, which was about a hundred times worse than her mother, because her mother was never happy with her.

"Ensign Peck..."

Gail forced her blue eyes up and met Captain Best's eyes, "Yes sir..."

He offered her a slight smile, "I have Lieutenant Nash's report... I am more than aware we owe the Doctor's safety to you."

Her brother spoke up, "Why didn't you tell mom that Epstein disobeyed orders and used his comm.?"

Gail had to remind herself he wasn't her brother right now as she replied robotically, "Ensign Epstein made a judgement call and was concerned about the safety of our squad mates. I didn't feel it was necessary to discuss his actions with the Admiral..." She tacked on a second later, "Sir."

He huffed out, "Gail..."

Best moved forward and placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, "Lieutenant Commander... why don't you go debrief Lieutenant Nash?"

Steve snapped to attention at the clear order, "Yes sir." He turned on his heel and marched from the room but not before leveling Gail with a look over his shoulder.

As soon as the doors slid shut Best spoke, "I admire loyalty Ensign Peck..." Gail relaxed a little, "But I need the truth in your report... including any infractions committed by your squad mates. This mission was vital and the safety of Doctor Stewart was paramount, any infractions have to be noted. Am I clear?"

Gail nodded, "Yes sir."

Best softened just a little bit, "You did good Peck." She offered him a small smile and fought the urge to rub the back of her neck as he finished, "Dismissed Peck."

Gail spun on her heel and nearly bolted from the Captain's bridge office, ending up on the bridge where the beta shift were staring at her like vultures.

Seeing as almost all of them except the helmsman were all crewmen and below her in rank she scowled and barked out, "Eyes front crewmen!"

Their rubber necks snapped away from her and she smirked as she strode towards the lift, intent on the med-bay, which was four deck downs on the mammoth ship.

* * *

She poked her head into the medbay, squinting because of the harsh light before jerking her head back and frowning. She scowled at the absence of Doctor Stewart and stalked into the med-bay.

One of the aides, a tiny little crewman who had a medical degree but no officer's commission stared at her when she demanded, "Where is Doctor Stewart?"

He blinked at her, clearly ruffled at the abrupt manner of address, "M'am..."

Even his tone was off as she growled, "I asked a question crewman..."

He blinked at her before replying shortly, "Doctor Stewart left the medbay nearly an hour ago, I have no idea where she was headed but she left against our recommendations."

Gail stared at him, "She left?"

He nodded, "I ordered her to wait for the Captain before eating lunch but she seemed intent on ignoring my orders." He shrugged a second later, "She's a civilian so if she kills herself it isn't my problem."

Gail swallowed down the growl that rose in her chest as she replied meanly, "She was held captive for a week crewman... she was probably starving."

He frowned at her, clearly he hadn't given that any thought. Gail scoffed at him before turning and storming back out of the med-bay, resolved to bleed to death in the future rather than let that idiot ever lay hands on her.

She heard him mutter behind her before the doors hissed closed, "She had breakfast..."

Gail rolled her eyes and made her way back to the lift.

* * *

She found the Doctor hunkered down over large tray of food in the mess, guarding it a bit like a wild animal, but politely so if that was possible. She offered smiles to the crew that passed her even as she pulled the tray a little closer to protect her food.

Gail stopped in front of her, "You know no one is going to mug you for the food right?"

The doctor's head snapped up and she directed a beaming smile Gail's way, "Ensign Peck!"

Gail frowned to cover the stomach flip that smile caused, "When did you learn my name?"

Doctor Stewart blushed as she replied, "I... I asked the Captain for your name so I could mention you in my debriefing." Her smile was a little shy now, "Are you here for lunch?"

Gail's stomach growled on cue before she spoke, "I was looking for you actually, but now that I'm here..." She cut away abruptly and headed to the mess line. As soon as she had her food in hand she made her way back to the doctor and plunked the tray down across from the other woman.

As they ate together Gail took the opportunity to observe the Doctor and allowed the woman to do the same. She wasn't sure why, but the first observation she made was that the Doctor was beautiful, which wasn't a common thing for her to notice when looking at another woman. For her part Doctor Stewart was glancing at her in between bites, searching her face for something.

When the Doctor had sated her appetite she pushed her tray away and waited for Gail to swallow before she spoke softly, "Thank you."

Gail cocked her head, "For what?"

The Doctor smiled a crooked grin, "For saving me..." Something in her tone hinted at the unspoken 'duh'.

Gail shrugged, "Orders are orders."

The Doctor's eyebrow quirked up, "Really? You're orders were to risk blowing yourself up if that's what it took to save me?"

Gail flushed, "I...no." Gail ducked her head, "Doctor Stewart..."

The woman in question cut in, "Holly." Gail jerked her eyes up and received a grin, "Call me Holly."

Gail returned the smile without realizing it, "I'm Gail." She scowled a second later as she barreled on, "I didn't do anything special Holly. You needed saving so we saved you."

Holly shook her head, "You saved me and nearly died in the process..." She shrugged, "Like I said, thank you." She stood up gingerly, favoring her left side and picked up her tray carefully.

Gail watched as she turned to leave before blurting out, "Where are you going?" She cleared her throat, "I mean... are you headed back to the med-bay?"

Holly made a face, "Not a chance." She smirked after a second, "Your Captain gave me one of the unused labs for my samples and research."

Gail shifted before asking quietly, "What deck?"

Holly's face lit up as she replied eagerly, "On deck 4, lab 2." Holly glanced down shyly after a moment, "I wouldn't say no to company? If you have the time?"

Gail nodded before she could stop herself, "Yeah..." She frowned, "I mean... sure I guess."

Holly's shyness vanished as she rolled her eyes before nodding seriously, "Ok then. I'll see you around Ensign Peck." She moved away slowly, shuffling more than anything.

Gail stared after before standing abruptly and yanking her half eaten tray up so that she could bus it quickly.

After she'd recycled the tray she bellowed out, "Lunchbox!"

Holly stopped and turned to look at her with a bemused smile as Gail hurried towards her, "Yes?"

Gail hesitated before offering her arm and speaking gruffly, "Here, lean on me so you don't like, fall over or something and make my rescue irrelevant."

Holly accepted the help gratefully, leaning heavily on Gail as they shuffled towards the lift together, "Thanks again."

Gail scoffed, "Whatever Lunchbox, just keep walking."

Holly huffed out, "I told you it wasn't a lunchbox."

Gail sassed right back, "Well Sample-box doesn't have the same ring to it now does it Holly?"

* * *

Gail perched herself on one of the stools in the small lab that had been given over to Holly as watched as the woman reverently lifted something out of her lunchbox. When Gail recognized what it was she exhaled before she could stop herself.

"Is that..." She stared at the 'sample' cradled gently in Holly's hands, "That's a skull." She slipped off the stool, "That is a human skull."

Holly didn't speak right away, instead she placed the skull gently on a stand and then she turned to Gail, "It isn't homo sapien."

Gail cocked her head, "It is shaped a little funny."

Holly nodded eagerly, "This skull belonged a homo erectus individual, I'm mean down to a cellular level, it is identical to the skull of a homo erectus individual found on Earth Prime."

Gail raised an eyebrow, "Is this where you tell me you're nuts? Cause hauling around a skull from Earth Prime is kinda crazy Holly."

Holly shook her head, "This individual died less than a year ago."

Gail reared back a little, "What?"

Holly's head bobbed as she babbled on, "I know!"

Gail held up a hand, "Hold on, how in the hell is it possible that that skull belongs to a homo erectus dude that died so recently... are they wandering around Earth Prime again?"

Holly took a step forward, "That's why this is so remarkable Gail, it's why I left Terra Corp." She glanced back at the skull before finishing, "I didn't find the skull on Earth Prime."

Gail blinked, "What?" She was almost sure she was hearing the Doctor wrong, "Where else would you have found it? homo erectus came from Earth Prime... I may be a gun toting grunt, but I'm not stupid."

Holly reached out a hand and brushed it almost reverently over the skull, "This skull was found 6 million light years and three galaxies over on an T-Class planet that is about 400,000 years behind Earth Prime in terms of development."

Gail shook her head, "That's impossible... you're telling me that this new planet has hominids on it? How? Did... did they come from Earth?"

Holly frowned, 'They couldn't have Gail, homo erectus has been extinct for hundreds of thousands of years on Earth Prime."

Gail narrowed her eyes, "Could one of the Corporations have cloned a early hominid?" She spat a second later, "They are always doing all sorts of shady crap like that."

Holly considered that, "I mean... it isn't impossible, Terra Corp. has rights to the planet, whether as a colony or for mining purposes but it wouldn't be the first time Apex Industries or Good Shepherd Galactic has tried to sabotage Terra Corp. or each other."

Gail nodded, "So they might have taken the DNA from a specimen on Earth Prime and created a lab caveman to muck up the works for Terra Corp.?"

"The thing is..." Doctor Stewart hesitated, "I'm not sure what they hoped to accomplish by placing one or even a hundred skulls on T-10, I found this one by accident and..."

Gail prodded, "And...?"

Holly swallowed before she reached into her lunchbox and pulled out what looked like a very crude handle, "I also found this... this is a tool Gail... I think there might be homo erectus living on T-10, and they've lived there long enough so that they've built tools and moved on after the death of this guy."

Gail straightened, "So... they might have placed cloned cavemen on a planet? Why would they do that except to keep Terra Corp. from mining the planet." She knew her voice was hard on the word 'mining' and as fleet and someone who had longed to explore space since she was a child, the Corporations blatant destruction of planets just to sustain themselves and their damn colonies upset her more than she could say. She huffed out, "Well good, maybe the damned locust will take a break."

Holly's face fell completely, "It won't though... stop them I mean, that's why I left. Once I brought the skull to the attention of my father he told me that the plans to strip and core the planet were going forward as planned."

Gail spoke quietly, "But... there might be people on T-10."

Holly looked miserable, "My father doesn't care Gail. The loss of the resources from T-10 will put GSG and AI in the perfect position to overtake Terra Corp." She reached out and almost stroked a finger over the brow of the skull, "I had to leave. They aren't even going to investigate. Even if there are only ten or twenty hominids on the planet, they shouldn't be wiped out because they might be pawns." She added after a moment of silence, "And sabotage is only one reason why the planet might be populated, and it is the arrogant 'the galaxy exists to ruin my life' reason. There is another, and honestly I don't know if I hope I'm wrong or not."

Gail huffed out, "Well share Holly, you can't say something like that and not share."

Holly gave her a half smile before speaking, "T-10 isn't just Earth like, it's startlingly similar to Earth Prime in terms of geography, weather..." She plucked the skull up, "This guy might have evolved by himself, with no outside influences, on T-10."

Gail folded her arms, "That sounds less likely than the clone theory."

Holly nodded, "That's why there needs to be an investigation, to answer those questions and to get a sense of how big the population is on T-10." She waved a hand over the lab, "I contacted the Fleet because I was hoping they'd look into it."

Gail dropped her arms and moved to place her eye line directly in front of the skull's, "Have you named him?"

Holly smiled at her, "Robbie."

Gail jerked her head up to glare at her, "Really Holly? Robbie?"

Holly's hands found her hips, "Well what would you have named him Gail?"

Gail answered promptly, "Caveman Carl."

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